Chris Chandler - Co-Founder and Business Relationship Manager

Once introduced to Atari by his father at the ripe age of two, Chris took to video games and computers almost immediately. Focused on retro gaming and video game history, he is proficient in remembering secret areas, continue codes, and how to beat games long forgotten. One specialty of his is a focus on portable gaming.

Chris recently became a dad in 2013, and again in the Fall of 2015. Although this has reduced his gaming time somewhat, he remains committed to researching video game history and playing games in between diaper changes.

Dean McCarthy - Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief

Although he grew up on the Nintendo NES and Sega Genesis, Dean was no stranger to other platforms. Now mainly a PC Gamer, Dean focuses on finding deals on Steam, exploring new PC titles, and portable iOS and 3DS gaming. Other hobbies include expanding both his home video library and inputting as much pop culture trivia as his brain can handle.

Dean is the father of a baby girl, and his wife is already talking about a second spawning. Chris has stressed to him that he make time to continue to game as a parent downtime activity.

Dave Kibler (aka Next Gen Dave) - Contributor

Next Gen Dave here.. When I was a wee lad many fortnights ago my uncle gave me his old Commodore 64, and I started immediately playing games like Monopoly and Arkanoid; soon after that my hard working mother spoiled me and bought me a NES and I had no idea how my life was going to be forever changed. Fast forward many systems later and am currently happily married and I am a proud father of 2. If I’m not working, at church, or playing with my kids you will find me getting lost on my XBONE or the 3DS when taking dumps or just hiding in the bathroom for a 5 minutes of quiet time. I love game SWAG and I love Microsoft and Nintendo memorabilia. Time to go back to the dark zone and find some sweet sweet loot. Have fun!! BIG BUSINESS OUT

C.J. Stunkard (aka Old School C.J.) - Contributor

Old School C.J. is a writer, entrepreneur, and toy enthusiast. He has no legit reason to talk about gaming, since he won't play most modern video games. Sources say this is due to his being referred to as a "noob" who got "pwned" or perhaps an incident when he pressed a single button on an Xbox controller that resulted in accidentally buying DLC for a game the owner didn't even have. He now sticks to retro titles and even refuses to play modern Indie games of a similar breed to the 16-bit consoles he loves.

In lieu of playing video games, Old School C.J. spends time with his wife and son, hangs with buddies, sells collectibles on Ebay, blogs, tweets, and flickr's. His opinions seldom reflect the overarching views of GamingWithSwag.com, or average gamers (as evidenced by his love of the Star Wars prequels, his pursuit of physical fitness, and his belief that Jesus is cooler than Batman). Always one step from quitting the gaming world entirely, Old School C.J. writes with the rose-colored glasses of a simpler time in video game history, a time when you could save progress of your game play to an actual cartridge. In Facebook terms, his relationship to gaming is “complicated”.

Bobby Jones - Contributor

Hello. It’s me. I’ll refrain from making an Adele joke but man, I can’t get that song out of my head. Anyway, I’m Bobby and I’m a father of two. Lily is 4 and Mason is 7. I’ll be joining the Gaming with Swag team writing about board games and video game that I play with my kids. There was a time before kids that I had a lot of time to play games but now I have to settle for Minecraft and Disney Infinity. Now that I’m writing for this site I think I should have my picture added to the banner along with Chris and Dean. I’ve saved them the trouble of having a picture made and included a picture of me that Lily painted.

Favorite Games: Uncharted 2, Shadow of the Colossus, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario Galaxy, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Portal, Halo: Combat Evolved, Age of Empires, Skyrim

Scott Bolderson - Contributor

Scott used to spend hours playing Pac-Man against his mother on the family Atari 2600. Ever since, he has found far more joy playing the quirky, unusual, and "bad" games than most AAA games. In recent years he has found a love of board games, and has mostly gotten out of video game collecting. He still has a Game.com full set and loves the Virtual Boy. He also has a soft spot for sports and racing games.

Brad Jarman - Contributor

After a year of saving change, a young Brad J bought his first NES and his lifelong love affair with games began. After having owned (and still owning in many cases) most classic consoles, Brad now primarily plays PC games, specializing in rogue-likes, RPGs, and games that could be described as "old-school". Outside of video gaming, Brad has an ever growing board game collection that now numbers somewhere around the 170 mark. He also has an encyclopedic knowledge of horror movies and comic book trivia, but alas, zero nunchucks skills.

Bacon – Cuisine and Friend

Bacon has expanded from the role of king of breakfasts, to amplify a wide variety of food items for Lunch, Dinner, or even some desserts (Fried Bacon Wrapped Snickers?). The saying “Everything is Better with Bacon” is one of the truest things a person can speak, and our friend Bacon can surprising speak as well. He in a Groot-like fashion can only say “I’m Bacon”, but I think we can extrapolate many things from this simple sentence. First, he is self-aware which for some is sufficient to grant rights and a soul. Second, there seems to be greater understanding of the English language, as the sentence does include a contraction which is not an introductory use of our language. This makes me believe that he often knows what we are saying to him, even if his response doesn’t necessarily reflect as such. And third, Bacon’s tone indicates pleasure in the fact; Bacon is happy to be Bacon and wants people to know exactly who and what he is. Bacon is new to video games, but seems to be pleased to be included and serves as a constant reminder that life can be enjoyed and is often delicious.

Sean Chandler - Contributor

Video Games have always been special to me. Nothing takes me back more than when I'm face to face with a game I enjoyed in my past. That being said, I still spend the majority of my time playing the latest & greatest on whatever system Sony has designed! As with all things in life, I tend to play a variety of different genres ranging from indie games to AAA titles. Trophy & achievement hunting is my favorite pastime, which I consider to be one of the most important innovations in modern gaming.

Gareth Burns - Contributor

It all started when I opened my SNES, Populous, and Final Fantasy II. That lead to years of trading carts on the bus with Sean. This took us into Jr. High where we were swapping PS One discs. I took a break towards the end of high school when I enlisted in the military and mostly played Halo. I later got a PS3 on launch day but didn't use it until Uncharted 2 came out. Since then I have been a full time gamer. I have lived in Japan for over 10 years now, and while my gaming has slowed since the birth of my daughter, I love to get an hour or two in when I can.